Hotel Calandria, Santiago

We arrived in Santiago on a clear spring evening, the Andes standing impossibly close and sharp above the rooftops, and found Hotel Calandria on a corner of Barrio Lastarria where the city is at its most civilised. The building is early twentieth century, its facade all rendered cornices and tall shuttered windows, freshly restored to a soft ash grey. Inside, the renovation is clean and Chilean: pale oak, copper light fittings, a wall hung with work from a Santiago gallery. The lobby doubles as a wine bar, and a host poured us a glass of Itata-valley red before we had set down our bags.

The room

Our room kept the period proportions, a high ceiling, a deep sash window, and dressed them in restrained contemporary calm. Oak floors, a bed in undyed Chilean wool, copper bedside sconces and a single large photograph of the cordillera set the tone. The tall window opened onto the leafy street and, above the buildings opposite, a clean line of snow-capped peaks. A compact desk and a leather reading chair made it easy to linger. The bathroom was a smart composition of grey porcelain and brushed copper, with a powerful walk-in shower and toiletries from a Chilean botanical house scented with boldo and lavender.

Calandria gives you the two best things in Santiago, the cordillera and Barrio Lastarria, framed beautifully from a single corner.The Suite Edit

Service & food

The staff are easy-going and well-informed, as comfortable explaining a Carignan from Maule as pointing you to the neighbourhood's best empanadas. The lobby wine bar is the hotel's social hub, its list a thoughtful tour of small Chilean producers, poured alongside boards of Chilean cheese and charcuterie. Breakfast on the rooftop, eaten beneath the Andes, is generous and local: scrambled eggs, fresh bread, manjar, palta and good strong coffee. There is no full restaurant, but in Lastarria that is no hardship at all, with some of Santiago's finest bistros and cafés a two-minute walk in every direction.

The verdict

Hotel Calandria is for the traveller who wants the most cultured, walkable corner of Santiago, the museums, the cerro, the bookshops, with the Andes thrown in for free. Couples, solo travellers and wine-minded guests will all be content. The gentle caveat is that Lastarria is lively, especially at weekends, so a few street-facing rooms catch the hum of the bars below; ask for a higher or courtyard-side room if you are a light sleeper. Otherwise, this is as good a base as central Santiago offers.